Inferno
by KATTALNUVA
Summary: (This is not a sequel to previous fics, it's a whole new story) Sometime after the Ceremonial Battle, Yugi and friends get back together for a Duel Monster's tournament in NYC, which they hope will go by without incident. Little do they know that there's a serial killer on the loose killing prominent duelists.
1. His Name is Abaddon

Weevil Underwood, former Duel Monster's regional champion, awoke to find his legs chained to the floor.

"What the hell is this?! Where am I?!"

The room was large, dark, and smelled of rusting metal, among other things. The only sound in the room was the clanking of Weevil's chains, but it sounded like there was something dangling above him as well.

"I thought you'd feel right at home Weevil… this old warehouse is infested with roaches."

The voice that echoed throughout the room was deep and distorted. It sent a chill down Weevil's spine.

"Who the devil are you?!"

"I'm likely the last person you're ever going to see…"

A tall person in a long black cloak and a crimson faceless mask emerged from the darkness.

"You can call me Abaddon."

"Who do you think you are, holding me against my will?! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

"I know that you're a washed up has been. You used to be one of the best duelists in the country, but since your defeats at Duelist Kingdom and Battle City you've become a laughing stock. The same could be said of your friend Rex Raptor, but I've already met him."

Abaddon opened the door of what turned out to be a walk in freezer, when Weevil saw what was inside he screamed. Rex Raptor was standing frozen like a popsicle with the word "Loser" carved into his chest.

"They say the two of you couldn't duel to save your lives. I've already dueled Raptor here and saw that they were right, and as a consequence he suffered the same fate as the dinosaurs he loved so much. I'm curious to see if you can do any better."

Abaddon pulled out a duel disk and placed it on his arm.

"Beat me in a duel and I'll unlock your chains and you're free to go. Lose… and I'll squash you like the bug that you are."

Weevil looked up and saw that there was a large anvil dangling above him.

"And what makes you think I'll agree to this sick game?!"

"I'm not exactly giving you a choice here… and if you're thinking of calling for help, I guarantee that no one will hear you. If you're too scared… I could just drop the anvil now."

Maybe it was just the fact that he wasn't in a position to argue, but Weevil felt some anger mix in with his fear.

"If anyone should be scared it's you! My army of insects will obliterate you!"

"I look forward to proving you wrong."

"Let's duel!"

(Weevil: 4000)

(Abaddon: 4000)

"Since I'm the one in a position of power… I'll make the first move."

Abaddon didn't seem to be in any hurry to make his move, for about a minute his gloved hands just hovered over his cards as if he was trying to decide what to play first.

"Are you going to make a move or not?!"

"I thought you'd be happy if I gave you a few more moments of precious life… most people aren't in a hurry to die. But if you're so eager to enter the abyss… I think I'll just play this monster in defense mode."

"That's it? A monster in defense mode? Rex must've been more pathetic than I thought if he lost to a duelist with an opening move like that!"

Weevil looked at the cards in his hand and smiled. If he could just destroy Abaddon's face down monster then he could end the duel this turn.

"I activate the spell card Painful Choice! This lets me take five cards from my deck, and then you get to pick one of them. The card you pick goes to my hand, and the other four cards go to the graveyard."

"I'm not some rookie; I know what the card does."

"Then hurry up and pick one!"

All the cards that Weevil pulled from his deck were insect monsters. Abaddon picked the only one that wasn't an effect monster.

"Thanks for that. Now I think I'll go ahead and end this duel! I banish three of the insect monsters in my graveyard to special summon Aztekipede the Worm Warrior and Doom Dozer!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 400)

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)

"Now I summon Insect Knight!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1500)

"Next I activate the field spell Gaia Power! This increases the attack of every earth attribute monster on the field by 500, for the small price of decreasing their defense by 400)

(ATK: 2400 DEF: 0)

(ATK: 3300 DEF: 2100)

(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1100)

"Now Insect Knight, destroy his face down monster!"

Before Abaddon's monster was destroyed, it was revealed to be some kind of giant cat.

"When Leopard of Malice and Fraud is destroyed, I get to draw two cards from my deck."

"As if it will matter, you have no monsters left to protect your life points! Aztekipede, attack him directly!"

Aztekipede almost made it to his target, when suddenly…

"I activate the trap card Will of the Fallen One!"

"What?!"

Aztekipede was struck dead on the spot.

"Impossible! You didn't have any trap cards out!"

"I didn't have any on the field, but Will of the Fallen One can be activated from my hand. I can use it to negate the attack of one of your monsters, destroy it, and end the battle phase. You should know by now to never underestimate your opponent. When you disposed of Yugi Moto's Exodia cards you thought you'd eliminated the only threat to you at Duelist Kingdom, but he beat you anyway. You made the same mistake in Battle City when you dueled Joey Wheeler. Do you know what happens to people who don't learn from their mistakes?"

"Just make your move!"

"Very well."

Abaddon drew his card, and if he hadn't been wearing a mask Weevil would have seen a wicked grin spread across his face.

"I think I'll destroy your Gaia Power with a field spell of my own, I activate Nine Rings of the Inferno!"

The holographic background collapsed around them, and if Weevil hadn't known better he would have thought they were falling deep beneath the surface of the Earth. When it finally stopped, Abaddon was standing in front of a massive gate. Weevil looked up and noticed that there was a message inscribed on the gate's arch.

**Through me the way to the city of woe.  
Through me the way to sorrow eternal.  
Through me the way to the lost below. Justice moved my architect supernal.  
I was constructed by divine power,  
supreme wisdom, and love primordial.  
Before me no created things were.  
Save those eternal, and eternal I abide.  
Abandon all hope ye who enter here**.

"Once this card has been activated it cannot be removed, and as long as it's on the field all monsters that have Infernal Beast or Damned Soul in their names will gain 500 additional attack and defense points, unlike your monsters, which now loss their little bonus."

(ATK 1900 DEF: 1500)

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)

"Now I special summon Nameless Shade from my hand!"

(ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

The monster that appeared on the field looked like the spectral form of a man, only it's face was completely featureless and it's eyes were hollow and black.

"When a soul is sentenced to the inferno it is stripped of everything, even its face and form. The damned aren't even allowed to repent of their wickedness."

"Is your strategy to bore me to death?"

"You really are in a hurry to die aren't you? Very well, I sacrifice my Nameless Shade to summon Infernal Beast Charon!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 2000)

Charon was utterly demonic in appearance. His skin was chalk white, upon his head were two horns, his eyes were a glowing crimson, and he had huge fangs. In his hand he held a mighty staff.

"If he wasn't terrifying enough, thanks to Nine Rings of the Inferno, he gains 500 extra attack and defense points."

(ATK: 2300 DEF: 2500)

"Next I activate the spell card Sin of Wrath! By discarding two cards from my hand, I can double Charon's attack power for the duration of my turn."

(ATK: 4600)

"Destroy his Doom Dozer!"

Charon charged over and impaled Weevil's Doom Dozer with his staff.

(Weevil: 2200)

"Next I'll activate Charon's special effect. You see in ancient Greece and Rome, when you died, you'd be buried with coins, which you could use to either pay Charon or bribe him. In exchange he would ferry you across the rivers of the underworld to the abode of the dead."

"Do you have a point?"

"As a matter of fact I do. Charon's special effect let's me bribe him by giving up two cards from my hand, and in return I get to special summon one monster in my graveyard."

Charon raised his staff in the air and howled, it was like nails on a chalkboard combined with the roar of a lion.

"And I can't think of anything better than one of the monsters I discarded to activate Sin of Wrath. So I special summon Infernal Beast Plutus God of Wealth in defense mode!"

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 2500)

Plutus appeared as a man, but his body was made of solid gold.

"Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe!"

"And since I have Nine Rings in play, he gains 500 additional attack and defense."

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 3000)

"That ends my turn. Your move, and I suggest you make it count. It might be your last."

Weevil tried to keep his cool, but at the moment the only monster he had on his side of the field was Insect Knight.

"I summon Pinch Hopper!"

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 1200)

"Next I activate the spell card Double Summon, which let's me summon another monster this turn, but first I'll activate Emergency Card Stash! Since there are no other cards in my hand, this card let's me draw six new cards!"

Weevil drew his six cards.

"Yes! I sacrifice Pinch Hopper and Insect Knight to summon Metal Armored Bug!"

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 1500)

"And since Pinch Hopper was sent to the graveyard, I can special summon another insect monster from my hand, and I choose my Insect Queen!"

(ATK: 2200 DEF: 2400)

"Insect Queen gets 200 attack points for every insect on the field."

(ATK: 2600)

"Metal Armored Bug, destroy Charon!"

(Abaddon: 3500)

"And I'll end my turn by playing this card face down, and activating the spell card Insect Barrier! This prevents any insect monsters on your side of the field from attacking."

"Just like I thought, you're nothing."

"What?!"

"It doesn't take a genius to tell what your face down card is, and I have a card in my deck that can deal with it."

"Thanks to Plutus' effect, I can draw two cards at the start of my turn instead of one. Now the effect of Nine Rings of the Inferno activates."

Suddenly the gate behind Abaddon was flung open and they were both inside. The background had been changed to a bright void. Weevil and Abaddon were surrounded by more shades than they could count, but unlike the Nameless Shade that Abaddon had summoned these ones had not been deprived of their faces."

"What the hell is this?"

"Hell is correct. During each of my standby phases I can place a circle counter on Nine Rings of the Inferno. Each one brings us one circle deeper into the abyss. This is the circle of Limbo, where those that did not sin, but did not have the required faith reside. Here their only punishment is that they will never see Paradise. Once I have nine circle tokens its true power is activated on the following turn."

"And that is?"

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, you won't last the nine turns. I special summon another Nameless Shade!"

(ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

"Now I'll sacrifice it to summon Damned Soul Sir Mordred!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600)

The monster that appeared on the field was a knight dressed head to toe in black armor, and he held a huge sword.

"In case you didn't know, Sir Mordred is the one responsible for the destruction of the fellowship of the round table. When he exposed Sir Lancelot's love affair with Queen Guinevere he set a deadly chain of events in motion, which ended with him mortally wounding his illegitimate father King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann. As a monster in my deck he gains 500 attack points for every monster on my opponent's side of the field. And thanks to my Nine Rings, he gets a 500 point boost."

(ATK: 3300 DEF: 2100)

"Mordred, destroy his Metal Armored Bug!"

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card DNA Surgery, turning all the monsters in play into insects, so now your knight can't attack!"

"Normally that would be case, except that Mordred is also immune to traps."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"I never kid."

Mordred charged over and cut Weevil's bug clean in half.

(Weevil: 1700)

While Mordred was unaffected by traps, Plutus wasn't so lucky, so his Insect Queen's attack was still 2600. But Weevil couldn't use her because he didn't have any monsters he could use as a tribute so she could attack, and nothing in his hand was going to be of any help. To top it all off this masked psycho was using cards that he had never even heard of, so he had to find a way to end this quickly.

"I draw!"

Weevil couldn't have asked for a better card.

"I activate the spell card Plague Swarm! This let's me pick up five cards from the top of my deck, and if any of them are insect cards that don't require sacrifices, I get to special summon them."

Weevil picked up his cards.

"I summon Neo Bug, Armored Bee, Arsenal Bug, and Skull Mark Ladybug!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1700)

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200)

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 2000)

(ATK: 500 DEF: 1500)

"And for every insect on the field, my queen gains 200 additional attack points!"

(ATK: 3400)

"You do realize that Mordred gains 500 attack points for every monster you have in play."

(ATK: 4800)

"Not for long, because now I'm activating Armored Bee's special effect! Once per turn I can halve the attack strength of one of your monsters!"

(ATK: 2400)

"Now I'll sacrifice my Skull-Mark Ladybug so my Insect Queen can destroy your knight!"

(Abaddon: 2500)

"And when Skull-Mark Ladybug goes to the graveyard, I gain 1000 life points."

(Weevil: 2700)

"And don't forget Insect Queen's effect. Now I can summon an Insect Monster Token!"

(ATK: 100 DEF: 100)

"All you have is your golden idol thing and on my next turn I'll destroy it and have my other monsters attack you directly! You should have known better than to challenge a duelist like me!"

Abbadon wasn't moved.

"Thanks to Plutus' effect, I get to draw two cards instead of one. Now the effect of Nine Rings of the Inferno activates. Taking us one level deeper into the abyss."

The holographic background changed to a dark terrain that was caught in a terrible storm. Weevil could see that there were people being blown around like ragdolls in the storm.

"This is the circle of lust, where all those who could not control their desires of the flesh are blown about for all eternity by this storm. Personally I don't think you'll end up in this circle, but in a matter of moments I'm sure you'll see most of the other circles on the way down."

"What are you talking about?"

"Make your peace… you're about to die. First I'll special summon my final Nameless Shade!"

(ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

"Now I'll activate the spell card Sin of Greed! This lets me draw as many cards from my deck as I wish, for the small price of 250 life points each."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"Since when do you care about fighting fair? You cheat every chance you get."

Abaddon drew his cards one by one, paying 250 life points each time. He finally stopped when he had drawn eight cards.

(Abaddon: 500)

"Next I'll sacrifice my Nameless Shade and Plutus to summon the monster that will be your executioner, Damned Soul Attila the Hun!"

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2500)

"Behold the self appointed Scourge of God. He was a bloodthirsty butcher that carved a path of death wherever he went. And thanks to the effect of Nine Rings of the Inferno he gains an extra 500 attack and defense points."

(ATK: 3300 DEF: 3000)

"It doesn't matter how strong he is, thanks to the effect of my DNA Surgery he becomes an insect, and since I have Insect Barrier in play it means he can't attack."

"Good thing for me he has a special effect. By discarding any number of cards from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field, and I think I'll discard my entire hand so I can destroy seven cards."

"No way!"

"Yes way…"

Attila drew his weapon violently plowed through every card on the field.

"And I still haven't attacked yet. Attila end this!"

Attila slashed Weevil across the chest.

(Weevil: 0)

"Say hello to Rex for me… in Hell."

The last thing Weevil heard was Abaddon's laughing. He screamed and tugged against his chains in vain, then…

SPLAT!

"You know… I always did like watching Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote."

He took a moment to take in the scent of Weevil's freshly spilled blood. Then he walked over and removed Weevil's deck from the duel disk.

"You won't be needing this anymore… now for this finishing touch." he said taking out a huge knife.

**(To be continued)**


	2. The Big Apple

A few days ago Yugi Moto had just completed his final semester exams. He spent the past several days moving his stuff back to Japan and unwinding a little, now he was on a plane en route to the Duel Monsters World Championship Tournament in New York City. He had been awoken by a young boy that wanted his autograph.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at our destination in less than an hour, in the meantime sit back and enjoy the rest of your flight."

After all this time, Yugi still retained his title as the King of Games. He was eager to protect his title, but what he was really looking forward to was seeing his friends again. Despite the country's academic standards, there are very few universities in Japan, so after Yugi and his friends graduated from high school they all ended up going to separate universities in the United States, as a result they were all on different schedules, but they agreed to meet up at the hotel. In the meantime, Yugi was trying to think of any way to improve him deck that he hadn't already thought of. This time he didn't have Atem or the Egyptian god cards to help him out.

"_I'll be fine. I need to remember that I beat Atem and the god cards. Plus I have a whole new deck of cards."_

Since there had been too many close calls in the past, Yugi had tried to come up with new ways to hit his opponents hard and fast. He was still getting used to the fact that there hadn't been any "problems" since Atem departed.

"_I guess I shouldn't be complaining… It'll be nice for there to be a tournament where we can just play a friendly game of Duel Monsters."_

Yugi and his friends agreed to meet at the hotel, but he didn't anticipate how long it would take him to get there from the airport. He was learning firsthand just how bad New York traffic could be. It didn't take long for the cabbie to realize who he was either.

"Dude, when bird an I saw what you did in the BC we were all like,WHOA! When you trashed the big K and the big M, we got lashed like it was the um ni on Gaia, know what I'm saying?"

"_Where those even words?" _thought Yugi.

Once at the hotel Yugi was greeted by a familiar face.

"Tea!"

"What took you so long?!"

Yugi and Tea had been friends since they were children, but overtime Yugi's feelings started to blossom into something else. After he and the others graduated from high school, Tea came here to New York to attend a dance school just like she had always dreamed.

"You've grown your hair out." said Yugi as they embraced.

"And you've gone and grown taller… You look just like him."

Yugi had hoped that she wouldn't mention this. During their time together, it became clear that Tea had feelings for Atem. He was worried that Tea hated him for winning the duel.

"So how'd your exams go?"

"I think I did fine… I'm glad they're over. How've you been doing?"

"Superb, remind me to show you my new routine before the week is over. Have you heard from Joey and the others?"

"They're on their way, apparently the flight was delayed."

"Then it sounds like we have to time to ourselves. If you're not too jetlagged, maybe I could show you the sights."

"Sure, just let me take my things to my room."

Someone once said that Manhattan was like the entire world reduced into a single island. As Yugi and Tea made their way through the city streets, he could tell that they were right. In addition to all the usual sights of the Big Apple, there were advertisements all over the place promoting the tournament.

"I heard there are over a hundred duelists in town. I hope they don't plan on dueling in the streets like in Battle City. That would make the traffic even worse."

"The whole tournament is taking place at the stadium. We'll just be having the elimination round on the lower floors."

Yugi's little trip through the city with Tea lasted until sunset, when they came to Central Park.

"So what do you think of the big apple?"

"It's even grander in person."

"If you can make it here you can make it anywhere… There's something else I wanted ask you."

"Go ahead."

"You never said if you like my new hair."

Yugi blushed.

"I… I think it's…"

Before Yugi could finish his sentence they were interrupted by a muscular bald man that was standing just a few feet from them.

"And you must be Yugi Moto."

"I am…"

"I saw you dueling Seto Kaiba at Battle City on TV a few years ago… I bet three grand that he'd squash you."

Just then Tea noticed the tattoo on the man's shoulder.

"Yugi, I think he's member of the Black Flame."

"Bitch, the name's Alcatraz, and I am the Black Flame."

Alcatraz whistled, and several more gang members surrounded them.

"I take it these guys are some kind of street gang?"

"Tourists. We rule the entire east side."

"You may be some hot shit back in Godzilla land little Yugi, but over here you're not even a cow's shit."

"But before we heal old flesh wounds, I think I'll teach you how we do things in here in the NYC."

**(To be continued)**

**Let's face it, in this universe no one had anything better to do than play card games. Anyway…**

**Next time, Yugi tests his new deck against the toughest gang leader on the east side.**

**In Chapter 3: The Warm Up duel**


	3. The Warm-Up Duel

Alcatraz stomped out the cigarette he was smoking, and then put on his duel disk.

"I hope you have insurance little Minilla, because I'm about to burn your shit down."

"Minilla?" asked Tea.

"Do you hear that hommies? These two come from Godzilla Land and the hoe doesn't even know who Minilla is."

"One: that's no way to talk to a woman. Two: there's no such place as Godzilla Land." said Yugi.

"As far as I'm concerned, there are only two places in this world. America, and everywhere else, and you two sure as hell aren't hailing from no stars and stripes."

"So are we gonna duel or not?"

"I'd thought you'd never ask."

"Yugi, you're not seriously going to go along with this, are you?"

"I don't think they're giving me much choice in the matter. Besides, I've been looking for a chance to test out my new deck."

Yugi winked, and Tea understood. Yugi was stalling for time by playing Alcatraz's game, but she had lived in the Big Apple long enough to know that most New Yorkers tend to took the other way in situations like this, but there were some people in the city that would never turn their back on them. As the duel started, Tea reached into her pocket to send out a text message on her phone.

"Since you're clearly at a disadvantage kid, I'll let you make the first move."

Yugi drew his cards.

"I summon the Crusader of Endymion!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

"That's a new one." said Tea.

"Wait till you see him in action. But for now I'll just place a card face down and end my turn."

"You're in way over your head boy. There's no way your little magicians can beat my flamethrowers."

"Just make your move."

"As you wish. I summon Raging Flame Sprite in attack mode!"

(ATK: 100 DEF: 200)

"Next I'll activate the field spell Molten Destruction! This increases the attack strength of all fire monsters on the field, at the price of 400 defense points."

The holographic background setting of duel disks changed from neutral and projected the landscape of an active volcano.

(ATK: 600 DEF: 0)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Double Attack. By discarding one monster from my hand, I can have one of my monsters attack you twice this turn, as long as the monster I'm having attack has a lower level than the monster I'm discarding."

"What does it matter if his Sprite can attack twice this turn?" asked Tea "Even with that field spell it only has 600 attack points, and Yugi's crusader has more than twice that."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, a hoe's place is in the kitchen."

"This guy's really starting to get on my nerves."

"I activate Raging Flame Sprite's special effect, enabling her to attack your life points directly!"

(Yugi: 3400)

"Now her other effect activates. Every time she attacks directly, her attack points increase by 1000!"

(ATK: 1600)

"And thanks to the effect of Double Attack, she can attack you again!"

(Yugi: 1800)

"Now her attack points increase again."

(ATK: 2600)

"I'll end my turn by playing this card face down. I knew that title of King of Games was just for show. The duel just started and you've already lost more than half your life points."

"I'm not denying that was an impressive first move." said Yugi "But if you think you can beat me that easily, you're wrong. I summon the Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1700)

"Next I activate the spell card Spell Absorption. From now on, whenever either of us activates a spell card, I gain 500 life points. And since I activated a spell card, I can place one spell counter on my Skilled Dark Magician."

(Spell Counter: 1)

"Next I'll activate my Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two more cards, and now I can place another spell counter on my magician and gain 500 life points."

(Spell Counter: 2)

(Yugi: 2300)

"Finally I'll activate the spell card Double Summon. Now not only do I gain 500 more life points, but since this card let's me normal summon another monster, I can now Gemini summon my Crusader of Endymion!"

(Yugi: 2800)

"Gemini summon?"

"When a Gemini monster like Endymion is summoned, they are treated as normal monsters, but when Gemini summoned they gain their special effects. The bad news is since my Skilled Dark Magician now has the max amount of spell counters he's allowed to hold, you won't get to see his special effect."

(Spell Counter: 3)

"The good news is, since he is holding the max amount of spell counters he can hold, I can sacrifice him to special summon my favorite card from my deck, The Dark Magician!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100)

"A lot of good that move's going to do you Yugi. Your magician still has fewer attack points than my sprite."

"Not for long. I activate the spell card Magician's Unite! When I have two or more spellcasters on my side of the field in attack mode, I can use this spell card to increase the attack power of one of them to 3000 for the duration of my turn, however that spellcaster is the only one that gets to attack this turn, and I choose my Dark Magician!"

(ATK: 3000)

"And since I activated another spell card, I gain back 500 more life points."

(Yugi: 3300)

"Now Dark Magician, attack his Raging Flame Sprite!"

(Alcatraz: 3400)

"I activate the trap card Backfire! Whenever you destroy one of my fire monsters, you take 500 points of damage!"

(Yugi: 2800)

"Minor setback, I still have plenty of life points left."

Even after all this time Tea was still impressed by Yugi's ability to turn a duel around. Alcatraz had started the duel by wiping out half of Yugi's life points, and just like that Yugi regained enough so that Alcatraz was only leading by 600.

"I still have plenty more fire where that came from you little brat! I banish the Raging Flame Sprite in my graveyard so I can summon Inferno!"

(ATK: 1100 DEF: 1900)

"And thanks to Molten Destruction, he gains 500 attack points!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1500)

"Next I'll activate my Pot of Greed, so I can draw two cards!"

"Don't forget about my Spell Absorption. Whenever either of us activates a spell card, I gain 500 life points."

(Yugi: 3300)

"What?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"If you don't believe me check the card."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter how many life points you have! I'll burn 'em all! I activate the equip spell Axe of Despair! This increases Inferno's attack points by 1000!"

(ATK: 2600)

"And I get 500 more life points."

(Yugi: 3800)

"Big deal! Not only is Inferno stronger than both your monsters, but when he destroys a monster in battle, you take an additional 1500 points of damage! Inferno, attack the Dark Magician!"

"Not so fast, I activate my Magical Hats! This let's me take two spell or trap cards from my deck and one monster on the field and place them on the field in defense mode."

Yugi's Dark Magician and the two cards he pulled from his deck were shuffled underneath three holographic hats.

"You can still attack… if you want to."

Yugi's Crusader was still exposed, but it only had 1900 attack points, and the Dark Magician had 2500. Thanks to Axe of Despair Inferno only had a lead of 100, it would be too easy for Yugi to close that gap.

"Inferno, attack the hat on the right!"

Inferno incinerated the hat as ordered, but Yugi's life points actually increased instead of dropping.

(Yugi: 4800)

"What?!"

"Sorry, but the card you just destroyed was a Magic Formula spell card. And whenever it's sent from the field to the graveyard, I gain 1000 extra life points."

"But that's a spell card, not a monster card!"

"Check the rulebook. Due to the effect of my Magical Hats it's treated as a monster, and it's effect still applies. And since your turn is over, the other card I pulled from my deck is also destroyed, and get this… it's another Magic Formula."

(Yugi: 5800)

"You're really ticking me off kid!"

"It's what I do. First I'll sacrifice both my Crusader and my Dark Magician, so I can summon Endymion, the Master Magician!"

(ATK: 2700 DEF: 1700)

"Now I'll activate his special effect. By discarding one spell card from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field, and I choose your Inferno!"

Endymion blasted Inferno with a burst of magical energy.

"Don't forget, thanks to Backfire you take 500 points of damage!"

(Yugi: 5300)

"That's nothing. I activate the spell card Emergency Card Stash. Since there are no cards in my hand, I can use this card to draw six cards from my deck. Now thanks to my Spell Absorption, I gain back the 500 life points I just lost."

(Yugi: 5800)

"Now Endymion, attack his life points directly!"

(Alcatraz: 900)

"And I'll end my turn by playing this card face down."

Tea could see that Alcatraz was really pissed off now. In just two turns Yugi had completely turned the tables on him.

"_He really is just like him…"_

"I'm going to burn you r sorry ass till there's nothing left!"

"I'm curious to see how you can do that when you have fewer monsters, life points, and cards in your hand than I do."

"A problem I intend to fix right now!" said Alcatraz drawing his card "I activate the spell card Equality! This lets me draw cards from my deck until I'm holding the same number of cards as you."

"Then I get 500 more life points."

(Yugi: 6300)

"I'm sick of that card, so I think I'll destroy it with Mystical Space Typhoon! Next I'll summon Solar Flare Dragon!"

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000)

"And don't forget that thanks to Molten Destruction he gains 500 attack points!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 600)

"Next I'll activate Polymerization, which I'll use to fuse Royal Firestorm Guards and Blast Sphere to summon Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird!"

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300)

"Molten Destruction, do your thing!"

(ATK: 3300 DEF: 1900)

"_Time to see if this guy is as stupid as he looks."_

"I activate Blaze Fenix's special effect! Now you take 300 points of damage for every card on the field!"

(Yugi: 4500)

"This does prevent me from attacking with him this turn, but I still have Solar Flare Dragon's special effect. When my turn ends, you take 500 points of damage!"

(Yugi: 4000)

"And in case you have any funny ideas about attacking him with your magician, Solar Flare Dragon's effect prevents you from attacking him as long as I have another pyro monster in play."

"_So… I guess he isn't a complete idiot."_

The card Yugi had played on his last turn was Magic Cylinder. If Alcatraz had attacked with his Blaze Fenix he would have lost the duel right there.

"Nice move, you've successfully reduced my life points back to their original 4000." said Yugi "Too bad you used up all the cards in your hand doing it, and you've completely forgotten about my Magician's special effect. By discarding one spell card from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field, and I choose your Blaze Fenix!"

Endymion span his staff around and then fired a burst of energy that caused Fenix to explode on impact.

"Of course you still have Backfire in play, so I do lose 500 life points. But that's a small price to pay to ensure victory."

(Yugi: 3500)

"Finally I'll activate Spellbook of Power! With this card I can increase Endymion's attack power by 1000 until the end phase!"

(ATK: 3700)

"Now Endymion, destroy Solar Flare Dragon!"

Endymion blasted Solar Flare Dragon into nothingness.

(Alcatraz: 0)

"That's it… Shit stomp that little turd!"

"Hey asshole! Pick on someone your own size!"

"Joey! Tristan!"

"Who the hell are you?" asked Alcatraz.

"Seriously? I was second place at Duelist Kingdom, and fourth at Battle City, and I would have been second if I hadn't lost consciousness."

"This ain't none of your business blondie."

"When you mess with my friends it most certainly is."

"In case you haven't noticed, there are seven of us and only two of you."

"I've had worse."

"Me too, let's take these creeps!" said Tristan.

The brawl that followed lasted about five minutes, and ended with the sound of a gunshot.

"Cease and desist! Put your hands in the air!"

"Ah, New York's finest." said Tea.

Alcatraz and his crew were being charged with aggravated assault and disturbing the peace. Yugi and his friends were cut loose when they pled self-defense."

"Are you guys okay?"

"You know us better than that Tea. We used to eat punks like these for breakfast."

"Man it is really great to see you guys."

"Great to see you to Yug. But we can catch up later. My sister and Mai are waiting for us back at the hotel."

**(To be continued)**

**Next Chapter: Evil comes to New York**


	4. Evil comes to New York

Thanks to his well placed sources, Alcatraz made bail in less than an hour. He was already planning revenge on Yugi and his friends, but when he made it back to the Black Flame's secret hideout he was met with a very ugly surprise.

"HOLY SHIT!"

As he made his way through the building he found all of his fellow gang members lying in pools of their own blood with more holes in them than Swiss cheese. He was beginning to wonder which of the rival gangs in the city had the balls to pull off something like this, when he felt a needle dig into his neck. He span around to strike whatever it was that hit him, but he felt the effects of the drug immediately. He collapsed to the floor and knew no more. He was awoken by the smell of fecal matter and the squeaking of rats.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? WHERE AM I?!"

Alcatraz appeared to be somewhere in the sewers beneath the city. He looked down and saw that he was chained to the floor.

"Good evening Mr. Alcatraz, if that is your real name."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"

"You can call me Abaddon. As for where you are, I thought you'd feel right at home." said a cloaked figure stepping out of the shadows "I think this place matches your personality exactly. You claim to be the toughest gang leader on the east side, but at the end of the day you're just another criminal. You thought you could beat Yugi Moto in a duel, but like most people you can't walk the walk as well as you talk the talk."

"You son of bitch! When I get out of these things I'm going to kill you!"

"Beat me in a duel and I'll gladly unlock your chains."

"You want a first class ass-whipping?! Fine by me!"

"Let's duel!"

"I activate the spell card Soul Fire! By removing one monster in my deck from play, I can inflict half its attack points as damage to your life points! And I choose Volcanic Doomfire!"

(Abaddon: 2500)

"Soul Fire also has another effect, which lets me draw a card." said Abaddon apparently unfazed.

"Whatever! Next I activate the spell card Tremendous Fire! This causes you to lose 1000 more life points!"

(Abaddon: 1500)

"Don't forget that you also loose 500 life points."

(Alcatraz: 3500)

"Worry about your own life points you sick fuck! I'll place one card face down and summon a monster in defense mode!"

"Not bad for a first move. It might work against weaker duelists, but it's pretty clear you're not used to playing against someone who's better than you."

"Excuse me, but who's already lost more than half their life points you bathrobe wearing pansy?!"

"I activate the spell card Terraforming. This lets me take a field spell from my deck and add it to my hand, and now I'll activate it, Nine Rings of the Inferno!"

Abaddon always enjoyed watching his opponent's reactions to this card being activated. Though he was trying his best to hide it, Alcatraz was just as scared as all the others.

"What the hell is this?!" asked Alcatraz as they stood before the huge gate. Abaddon's only response was a nod.

"Next I'll activate the spell card Suicide Pact! This causes me to pick up the top five cards of my deck, and if any of them are monsters then they're sent straight to the graveyard."

Abaddon picked up his cards.

"Looks like it's my lucky day. One… two… three… four… five."

"So you just sent five monsters to the graveyard, big deal!"

"Oh it's a very big deal. For every monster that was sent to the graveyard, I can summon a shade token."

(5x ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

"Now I'll activate the spell card Soul Harvest! This card destroys every Nameless Shade or Shade Token on my side of the field, and grants me 1000 life points each."

(Abaddon: 6500)

"Oh that's bullshit!"

"You should calm down, getting mad about the duel isn't going to change its outcome. Besides, it's still my turn. And I summon Damned Soul Cleopatra VII Philopator in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000)

Even though her appearance was utterly demonic, Cleopatra was just as alluring as she had been in life, probably because she was wearing a very revealing outfit.

"And when she's summoned out by herself, I can special summon her lover from my hand or deck. Come forth, Damned Soul Marcus Antonius!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1700)

"And they both get a 500 point boost from my Nine Rings field spell."

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500)

(ATK: 2300 DEF: 2200)

"Antonius, destroy his face down monster!"

The demonic Marc Antony charged over and sliced Alcatraz's monster in half with his sword.

"I activate Backfire! Since you destroyed my Charcoal Inpachi, you take 500 points of damage!"

(Abaddon: 6000)

"Antonius also has a special effect. Whenever he destroys a monster in battle, you take 500 points of damage."

(Alcatraz: 3000)

"Now Cleopatra can attack you directly!"

Cleopatra jumped into the air and slashed at Alcatraz with her nails. It felt like a bear was digging into him with its claws.

(Alcatraz: 1500)

"So tell me… How did you get your reputation as one of the city's best duelists? Was it by beating the little sisters of the poor over and over again?"

"When my deck and I are done burning you, I'm going to rip your intestines out and feed them to my dogs!"

"Really? That's the best you could come up with? That was a terrible threat. Joke's on you anyways, I already killed your dogs."

"I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, now I get to draw two more cards from my deck! Next I'll activate the field spell Molten Destruction!"

Much to Alcatraz's surprise, his duel disk didn't accept the field spell.

"What?!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but Nine Rings of the Inferno can't be removed from the field after it has been activated. You wasted your card."

"You bastard! I'll end my turn by summoning this monster in defense mode."

"Just like I thought… another duelist who built up his reputation by beating weaker opponents. Since it's my turn, the effect of Nine Rings activates. During my standby phase, I get to place a ring counter on it. Each counter makes us descend deeper into the pit."

Alcatraz wasn't moved by the holographic background's transformation.

"So you changed the scenery a little bit, big deal!"

"It'll be a very big deal after I've placed my ninth counter on the card, but I seriously doubt you'll last that long."

"I don't need to last nine turns; I'll beat you long before then."

"I don't know about that, but I can try and speed things up. I summon Infernal Beast King Minos in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000)

Minos had a huge humanoid serpentine body and wore a large crown on his head.

"Think he's scary now? Don't forget that he gets a small boost from my Nine Rings card."

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Judgment of Minos! In case you didn't know, in Greek mythology Minos was one of the judges of the underworld. When he's on the field I can use this spell card to send us even deeper into the abyss. All I have to do is roll a six-sided die, and I can place a number of ring tokens on my Nine Rings of the Inferno field spell equal to the number I roll."

Abaddon rolled his die.

"Drat, it's only a two."

"Glutton!" bellowed Minos.

The holographic background instantly began to warp. Within moments Abaddon and Alcatraz were in the middle of an unrelenting rainstorm. The air was filled with a foul smell that Alcatraz thought was rotten meat and vomit. There were freakishly overweight shades all around him rotting in what appeared to be their own filth.

"I'd explain to you the significance of this place, but I don't think you even understand the concept of poetic justice. Marcus Antonius, attack his face down monster!"

Abaddon's monster had no trouble destroying Alcatraz's monster, but that was exactly what he was counting on.

"Got you! Not only does destroying my monster activate the effect of Backfire, causing you to lose 500 life points, but my monster has an effect as well!"

(Abaddon: 5500)

"When The Thing in the Crater is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon a pyro monster from my hand, and I choose Pyrotech Mech – Shiryu!"

(ATK: 2900 DEF: 1800)

"Don't forget that thanks to Antonius' effect, you also take 500 points of damage."

(Alcatraz: 1000)

"You're the one who should worry about taking damage. I banish my Thing in the Crater to summon Inferno!"

(ATK: 1100 DEF: 1900)

"And I'll equip him with Axe of Despair!"

(ATK: 2100)

"Now Inferno, destroy King Minos!"

(Abaddon: 4900)

"Now Inferno's effect activates! Every time he destroys a monster in battle, you take 1500 points of damage!"

(Abaddon: 3400)

"King Minos also has an effect. When he's destroyed, I can place another ring counter on my Nine Rings card."

The holographic background transformed into a sea of precious metals and gemstones. Some shades were buried beneath the treasure, others were hauling heavy loads of it around, and others were writhing in pools of the molten metals.

"This now is the circle of greed. Here hoarders and squanderers alike are punished for all eternity. Here you'll find more riches than can be found in the ransom of a thousand kings, but no amount of it will bring peace to these wretched souls."

"I'm going to enjoy shutting that big fat mouth of yours! Pyrotech Mech – Shiryu, destroy Cleopatra!"

Shiryu started to charge an attack, but Cleopatra began dancing and making provoking gestures all over her body. Even for one of the damned, her performance was very seductive, and it kept Shiryu from attacking.

"What?!"

"Just another way of making up for Cleopatra's attack and defense. She was once one of the most desired women in all the empires of the world; as such I can negate one attack made against her per turn. And since you don't have any cards left in your hand, I believe your turn is over."

"You're really pissing me off!"

"Then maybe our next destination will suit you better. Since it's my turn, I can now place another ring counter on my Nine Rings of the Inferno."

This time the background changed to a foul marshland, with many shades cursing at each other and writhing in the murky waters.

"Behold the river of Styx and the circle of anger! I'm afraid this is as far as you'll go, but don't feel bad about it. None of my other victims have lived to see my trump card either. You know it's quite appropriate that we're here. It's the perfect place for me to summon this monster. I sacrifice damned souls Cleopatra VII Philopator and Marcus Antonius to summon Infernal Beast Phlegyas!"

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2200)

"And thanks to my Nine Rings, he's 500 points stronger!"

(ATK: 3300 DEF: 2700)

"Phlegyas, destroy Pyrotech Mech – Shiryu!"

Phlegyas shot a jet stream of fire from his mouth that even a pyro monster like Shiryu couldn't withstand.

(Alcatraz: 600)

"Big deal! I still have life points left!"

"Not for long. When Phlegyas destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to half that monster's attack or defense points, whichever one is higher."

(Alcatraz: 0)

"In summation: I win, you suck."

"You son of a bitch! I'm going to rip your throat out!"

Alcatraz struggled against his chains with all his might. Abaddon casually walked up to him, and bashed him in the face with a heated aluminum baseball bat.

"I'm sorry… did that hurt?"

As Abaddon beat his prey to death, he unintentionally stirred up some memories that he would have much rather left forgotten.

"_YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING YOU USELESS LITTLE SHIT! I'M DOING THE WORLD A FAVOR!"_

That was enough to bring Abaddon out of his fit of ecstasy.

"Okay, I think he's dead enough."

Abaddon removed Alcatraz's deck from his duel disk and proceeded to put the finishing touch on the body.

LOSER

**(To be continued)**

**Before the tournament, Yugi and friends enjoy their reunion. Plus a sneak peek into the dark history of Abaddon.**

**Next time in Chapter 5: Sins of the Father**


	5. Sins of the Father

Abaddon was careful to avoid any of New York's homeless as he made his way out of the sewers. The police would just think what had he had done at the Black Flame's hideout was gang related violence. Alcatraz's body would remain where it was and be food for the rats, until he called the police with an anonymous tip on a disposable phone on the next night, after the elimination round had ended.

"I knew Alcatraz was likely nothing more than a duelist who got his reputation from easy wins, but it's still a little disappointing. I know I built this deck to win, but none of my victims have been able to last the nine turns required for Nine Ring's true effect. Maybe one of the eight finalists at the tournament will be up to the challenge."

Abaddon started to laugh, but then he remembered the sharp pain in his gut. He hadn't made it through the fight at the Black Flame's headquarters entirely unscathed. In fact he had gotten through the duel with Alcatraz running mostly on adrenaline and a handful of narcotics.

"Sometimes I forget that I'm not Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. Thank God for body armor."

Abaddon made his way back to his temporary quarters and began to patch himself up.

"I still can't believe I managed to get on a plane and cross the ocean with all this stuff."

When he was done Abaddon injected a large amount of morphine into his arm, then he drifted off and began to dream. Much to his dismay he was reliving the fateful night his parents died. His father was a heavy drinker who was unhappy with his adequate, boring, and otherwise meaningless life, and he took his unhappiness out on his wife and son. One night he had either too much to drink, or maybe he forgot to pay a bill, maybe he stepped on one of his son's toys, but whatever it was it set him over the edge. He slashed his wife's throat with a chef's knife and then he stabbed his own son in the chest just for witnessing the whole thing. The young boy that now called himself Abaddon was somehow able to endure the pain and convince himself the best course of action was to play dead. Then he watched as his father took a double barreled shotgun and blew his own brains out. The boy had been stabbed in the chest and watched both of his parents die on the same night; he was six years old… A part of him had hoped that his father's death would at least mean the end of the abuse he suffered, but he would soon learn that he was simply trading one tormentor for another.

"Let me get this straight. The two of you went into Central Park at sunset, and then you dueled the leader of the toughest street gang on the east side?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"You'd think someone that has been in the Big Apple longer than the rest of us would know better."

"Well, I guess I just lost track of time."

"That tends to happen when you're on a date." said Mai.

"It wasn't a date!" said Tea "I was just showing Yugi around the city."

"Sure you were."

"Are you sure you guys are alright?"

"Trust me sis, Tristan and I have seen a lot worse."

"Have you been working out Joey? You look… kinda buff." said Mai.

"Oh it shows… Well, I heard that exercise helps relieve stress. Let me tell you, it doesn't work too well when you're studying for finals."

"But you passed, didn't you?"

"Somehow…Right now I'm more focused on how to win this tournament."

"First we need to make it through the elimination round, and from what I hear there are at least one hundred duelists from around the world in the city."

"How do they intend to go through over a hundred duelists in one day?"

"We're going to be dueling with time limits." said Yugi "And whoever has the most life points when the time limit is up wins. In addition if you take too long with your turn you'll be disqualified."

"So that means you really need to think fast." said Serenity.

"Yes, and a single miscalculation could cost you the duel."

"We're up to it." said Yugi.

"Well of course you are, you're Yugi freaking Moto, the King of Games!" said Tristan.

"But is it true that you don't have the god cards?"

The god cards and the millennium items were lost forever after Atem passed on. But Mai wasn't there to witness it.

"I wouldn't want to make things too easy. It should be a very interesting tournament."

"Anyone else we know participating?"

"I haven't seen any familiar faces yet, but if you're here I'm sure there's one spoiled brat we can count on to show up." said Joey.

"Hasn't he been busy setting up Duel Academy?"

"Duel Academy?"

"Honestly don't you guys ever watch the news? Basically it's KaibaCorp's high school for duelists."

"I wish they had schools like that a couple years ago, I'd take all the other students to school, literally."

"I believe Duel Academy has been up and running for several months now."

"So if Kaiba's schedule is free, then I doubt he'll pass up a chance to duel Yugi. We can probably check the duel blogs to see if any other major players are attending."

Yugi and the others spent some time seeing what other duelists had been seen in New York.

"Good news, it doesn't look like anyone has seen bug-boy or dino-breath around the city." said Joey.

"They're probably too embarrassed to show their faces. They probably wouldn't have made it past the elimination round anyway." said Mai "There's all kinds of duelists in the city that have been making names for themselves."

"Not only that, there are a lot more cards available. This girl uses reptile monsters, and they used to be one of the most overlooked and under supported types of monsters in the game." said Yugi.

"We can worry about specifics when there are only eight duelists left. For now, let's all get a good night sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow."

**(To be continued)**

**Yugi and friends prove their mettle against the other duelists that have come to New York.**

**Next time in Chapter 6: The Elimination Round**


	6. The Elimination Round

Yugi, Joey, and Mai all left the hotel early the next morning to avoid the crowds. Since spectators weren't allowed to watch the elimination round, Tea was going to take the others sightseeing. Even at this early hour the city's new dueling stadium was surrounded by fans and the press. Yugi and the others barely made it inside in one piece.

"Friggin vultures, the real action doesn't even start until tomorrow."

"Over a hundred duelists from around the world are here to compete; they want to see who drops first. Let's not give them the satisfaction of having it be one of us." said Mai.

"No problem, any time I didn't spend cramming was used thinking of ways to improve my deck." said Joey.

The lower levels of the stadium were full of duelists. It was hard for Yugi to spot any familiar faces, but everyone knew who he was. It took a while, but eventually the officials were able to calm everyone down.

"Welcome to the Duel Monsters World Tournament here in the great city of New York! We're pleased to see such a large turnout, but only eight of you will proceed to the main event. We'll be dividing you into four groups, where you will be facing each other in single elimination matches. You will be dueling with 4000 life points and a strict time limit of ten minutes, whichever duelist has more life points at the end of those ten minutes will be the winner. In addition you must make a move within sixty seconds or you will be disqualified. The two surviving duelists from each of the four groups will proceed onto the main event. You will now draw lots to determine which group you'll be competing in and against whom."

Yugi, Joey, and Mai were all split into different groups, each of which had its own miniature arena for the players to compete in. As Yugi waited for his turn he watched all the other duels take place.

"_There are just so many different kinds of cards now. It's impossible to keep track of them all."_

Yugi was seeing every conceivable type of monster being used at least once across the four arenas. A part of him wished he still had the god cards to give him the edge.

_"I'll be fine… I just need to remember the things grandpa taught me."_

When Yugi's turn finally came everyone immediately turned their attention to the arena he was dueling in.

"Both players will now cut and shuffle their decks and draw their first five cards. On my word you will have ten minutes to duel. Five… four… three… two… one… duel!"

"I can't believe I get to have the honor of knocking Yugi Moto out in the first round! This is awesome!"

"Uh… you do realize you have forty-five seconds to make a move." said Yugi looking at the digital clocks they were provided with.

"Oh right! I summon Cave Dragon in attack mode!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 100)

Cave Dragon may have had 2000 attack points and didn't require any sacrifices, but there were some serious drawbacks to it. Cave Dragon could only be summoned if the player had no other monsters on the field, and if the player didn't have any other dragon type monsters in play then it couldn't declare an attack.

"Next I'll activate two copies of Ancient Rules! This lets me special summon a level 5 or higher monster from my hand, as long as it's a normal monster. And I think I'll summon Mikazukinoyaiba and Tri-Horned Dragon!"

(ATK: 2200 DEF: 2350)

(ATK: 2850 DEF: 2350)

"And I'll end my turn by placing this card face down."

"_Impressive, he just summoned three monsters with 2000 or more attack points on his first turn. Too bad he can't attack me yet. It doesn't take a genius to tell that his face down card is a trap. The question is what kind of trap."_

Yugi drew his card and quickly made a decision.

"I summon Magical Exemplar!"

(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1400)

"Next I activate the spell card Magical Dimension…"

"I don't think so! I activate my face down card, Dark Bribe! You may get to draw another card from your deck, but this let's me negate a spell or trap card that you try to activate."

"Good move, except you just used up the last card you had. Now I'm free to play this, Card Destruction!"

Yugi discarded his hand and was allowed to draw four cards, but his opponent had used up his entire hand on the first turn.

"Yes! Now I'll banish the Magician's Valkyria and the Kuriboh in my graveyard to special summon Chaos Sorcerer!"

(ATK: 2300 DEF: 2000)

"Finally I'll activate the spell card Lightning Vortex! By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy every face up monster on your side of the field!"

All three dragons were obliterated by bolts of lightning.

"That leaves my monsters free to attack your life points directly!"

(Tommy: 0)

"Winner! Yugi Moto!"

Meanwhile, in another one of the four arenas, it was Joey's turn to duel.

"Let's get this party started! I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600)

"Next I'll place a card face down and end my turn."

"I summon Marauding Captain in attack mode."

(ATK: 1200 DEF: 400)

"When Marauding Captain is normal summoned, I can special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand, and I choose Command Knight!"

(ATK: 1200 DEF: 1900)

"_Ah, a fellow warrior duelist."_

"Command Knight's effect grants all warrior monsters an additional 400 attack points!"

(2x ATK: 1600)

"Next I activate the Allied Forces! This increases the attack of every warrior monster on the field by 200 for every warrior or spellcaster monster on my side of the field!"

(2x ATK: 2000)

"Now Marauding Captain, attack Gearfried!"

"Not so fast hotshot! I activate the trap card Treacherous Trap Hole! If there are no trap cards in my graveyard, I can destroy two monsters on the field!"

Both the monsters Joey's opponent was controlling plunged beneath the ground.

"Err… I'll end my turn with a face down card."

"It won't be there long, because I activate Nobleman of Extermination! This lets me destroy one face down card and remove it from play! And if it's a trap then you have to remove all the other copies of that card you have as well, but I wouldn't worry about that because I summon Red Eye's Black Chick!"

(ATK: 800 DEF: 500)

"By sending this monster to the graveyard, I can special summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hand!"

(ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000)

"Now I'll have him and Gearfried attack you directly!"

(Jason: 0)

"Winner! Joey Wheeler!"

Yugi and Joey had both won their duels with ease, but Mai was having a little more trouble. She was facing a duelist whose deck focused on rock monsters. She was presently staring down a Megarock Dragon and had no monsters on the field.

(ATK: 3500)

(Mai: 1000)

(Sam: 2400)

"It's my turn! First I'll summon Harpie Queen!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

"Next I'll reveal my face down trap card! Hysteric Party! This lets me special summon as many Harpie Ladies from my graveyard as I can! I summon Harpie Lady1, Harpie Lady 2, Harpie Lady 3, and Harpie Dancer!"

(3x ATK: 1300 DEF: 1400)

(ATK: 1200 DEF: 1000)

"So you have a full field of monsters, big deal! It's simple math! My monster has 3500 attack points, and none of yours even have 2000!"

"That'll change very quickly. My Harpie Lady 1 gives all wind monsters a 300 point boost!"

(ATK: 2200)

(3x ATK: 1600)

(ATK: 1500)

"Next I'll equip my Harpie Queen with United We Stand! This equip spell grants my Harpie Queen an additional 800 attack and defense points for every face up monster on my side of the field!"

(ATK: 6200 DEF: 5200)

"6200?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"Sorry hon, but this isn't your lucky day. Harpie Queen, destroy his Megarock Dragon and the rest of his life points!"  
(Sam: 0)

"Winner! Mai Valentine!"

The duels continued for hours, and not each opponent was as easy as the last, but Yugi and his friends kept their cool and continued to make their way to the top.

"Did you guys see that?!" exclaimed Joey "Now that was a plan!"

"Looks like some time in college has worked out your kinks." said Mai.

"What kinks? I've always been one hundred percent awesome."

"More like fifty percent lucky and fifty percent full of yourself."

There was a loud explosion from one of the other arenas.

"If you want someone who's full of themselves, look over there."

Before the holograms deactivated, Yugi caught a glimpse of a monster that was all too familiar to him… The Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Winner! Seto Kaiba!"

From the mini arena he was standing on Kaiba spotted Yugi in the crowd, and a small grin formed on his face. But he wasn't the only one who was pleased to see that Yugi was present at the tournament. From somewhere else in the city another man was watching the elimination round unfold with very dark intentions.

**(To be continued)**

**Of all the duelists that have come to NYC, only eight remain, including some of the most bizarre individuals Yugi and his friends are yet to face, and a mysterious woman with a history they will not believe. Meanwhile Abaddon decides it's time to make some noise.**

**Next time in chapter 7: The Final Eight**


	7. The 8 Finalists

After hours of fighting their way through a gauntlet of duelists in blitz matches, Yugi and the others were relieved to hear that the elimination round was finally over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our eight finalists! From ring one: Cyber-Man and Seto Kaiba! From ring two: Mai Valentine and Dr. Kiryu! From ring three: Laffy the Clown and Joey Wheeler! And last but certainly not least… from ring four: Liz Fanclaw and the reigning King of Games himself… Yugi Moto!"

The main tournament was going to start until the next day during the afternoon. The officials must've been really impressed by the number of OTKs that occurred throughout the elimination round, because Yugi and the others were informed that they would be dueling with 8000 life points instead of the usual 4000.

"A large crowd will be coming to see us duel; I guess it would be a shame for the action to end too quickly." said Mai.

"But that also means our opponents will be given more time to fight back, on the plus side it could mean the same for us if we're the ones on the chopping block."

"At least we know who the other finalists are, so we can prepare our decks."

"You're going to have to, especially since you only won all those matches because your opponents took too long to make a move."

"That only happened twice!" said Joey.

Yugi, Joey, and Mai met up with the others back at the hotel.

"So, how did it go?" asked Tea.

"We're all in the finals!"

"Yeah, and so is Kaiba and four other duelists we've never met before."

"Can't you just look them up in the duel blogs?" asked Serenity.

"Let's get something to eat first, I'm starving!" said Tristan.

"That's the smartest thing I've heard all day." said Joey "Let's see if New York style pizza is all it's cracked up to be."

Considering what had happened last night, and all the press outside, Yugi and friends decided it would be best to keep off the streets for now. While they were waiting for the delivery man to arrive, a story on the news caught their attention.

"We have an update in the case of fire that occurred last night on the east side that had apparently killed at least two dozen members of the Black Flame. Our sources have revealed that the victims had not been killed in the fire, which occurred afterwards. It was suspected that the incident was gang related, but no rival gangs in the city claimed responsibility for the incident."

"Black Flame? Aren't those the guys that attacked you last night?" asked Mai.

"Of course no one is claiming responsibility." said Tristan "Who in their right mind would admit to killing twenty-four people?"

"Earlier this evening the NYPD received an anonymous tip saying that they would find gang leader Alcatraz in the sewers beneath Lexington. He was found savagely beaten and had burn marks across all his bruises. But even more bizarre was the fact that the word "Loser" had been carved into his chest."

"What?!"

"The deceased was wearing a duel disk, but his Duel Monsters deck was missing when the police arrived. Sources at Kaiba Corp claim that the last recorded duel involving Alcatraz occurred last night when he dueled reigning King of Games Yugi Moto in Central Park. He was arrested on assault charges shortly after and promptly made bail."

"Does this stuff always happen in the big city, or is this something new?"

"I've been here for a year, and I've never seen anything this bad." said Tea.

"Someone like Alcatraz would've had a lot of enemies. It's probably just a coincidence." said Joey.

"When has anything that's happened to us ever been a coincidence?"

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

"Pizza delivery for Mr. Taylor."

Yugi and the others tried to forget what they heard on the news by researching the duelists they'd be fighting against tomorrow.

"What the heck is with this guy?" asked Tea.

Yugi had seen this duelist during the elimination round. He was wearing a black leather jacket and a metal mask that was completely featureless except for two neon colored eyes.

"That's Cyber-Man. It says he's a local here in New York, one of the best duelists in the state… probably the whole country since he's the only American still in the tournament. He uses a special type of machine monsters."

"What was your first clue?"

"Forget him, who the heck is this guy?"

"Laffy the clown. According to this he's from the United Kingdom. There's not much the actual cards that he uses, but it says here that he likes to annoy his opponents."

"You'd think his strategy would be getting his opponent's to laugh themselves to death. Just look at that ridiculous outfit of his."

"The only other finalist we have information on is Liz Fanclaw. She's from Australia and specializes in reptile monsters."

"What about this Dr. Kiryu?"

"There's nothing on her in the duel blogs. The only information I could get on her is that she's the youngest and one of the most brilliant surgeons in Japan. If I had to take a guess I'd say that this was her first tournament."

"Yeah right. Like a rookie could make it all the way through the elimination round of a tournament where all the best duelists in the world are fighting in blitz matches."

"Don't forget Joey, we were just rookies when we went to Duelist Kingdom."

"Joey was the rookie, you were the person who defeated Kaiba." said Mai.

"Correction, I was the rookie who beat you in the first round."

"That's ancient history and you had help. Once we're in the ring I'll crush you."

"Mai, against me your Harpies would be nothing but roast chicken."

"Save it for tomorrow you two." said Serenity.

Meanwhile in another part of the city, Seto Kaiba was sitting in his penthouse also gathering information on his fellow finalists. The only difference was that he had records of every duel that the others had ever played since they were using his company's duel disks.

"It would seem that Yugi's deck is now almost entirely spellcasters, with very few exceptions. Without those god cards as his crutch I'll rip him to pieces."

Kaiba wasn't worried about the other duelists, but one of them made him curious.

"This Dr. Kiryu appears to use fairy monsters. She won all her duels by having a lot more life points than her opponent when the time limit expired. She achieved this by using cards that gave her life points… But that won't do any good in the finals since there is no time limit... It's either beginners luck, or she's been using this strategy as a front."

Kaiba was one of the best duelists in the world, the only person that could rival him was Yugi. He didn't give any of the other duelists a second thought, and he hadn't even bothered to see which cards Joey had used, but something about this Dr. Kiryu seemed very familiar.

"It couldn't be… could it?"

Kaiba immediately began pulling every piece of information on this Dr. Kiryu that he could find.

"Oh god, it's her!"

In another part of the city Abaddon was still trying to recover from his injuries. If he wasn't feeling so tired from the morphine he would have gone out and tested his deck against some of the better duelists that just didn't make the cut for the finals. He still hadn't revealed the fates of Weevil and Rex to the world just yet, but it would come in good time.

"I can't wait to see how many of them shit their pants when I make my move… It's going to be amazing…"

The drugs were causing Abaddon to relive things he had long since buried. After the death of his parents he found himself in an orphanage, where he remained until he aged out, because no one wants the son of a man who went crazy and killed himself and his wife. Determined to repeat his father's mistakes, Abaddon dedicated himself to his studies. Unfortunately he also found himself a victim of ridicule and abuse from the other children, and he just wasn't strong enough to fight back. Then one day one of the bullies perished in an unfortunate accident. A loose brick had fallen down and smashed his head in.

"_I wonder how it feels… to have fragments of your own skull digging into the soft tissue of your brain."_

It was on that day that Abaddon learned that you can solve so many problems just by killing one person, but society didn't always see it that way. If necessary these "accidents" would have to continue, but it would have to happen discreetly.

"Once is happenstance… twice is coincidence… the third time is the devil's handiwork."

**(To be continued)**

**The Finals begin with a bang!**

**Next time in Chapter 8: Joey vs. Cyber-Man**

**(Tea's new look now on deviantart)**


	8. Joey vs Cyber-Man

It was the day of the World Tournament finals, and thousands of people across New York were gathering at the duel stadium to see the show. Some of the finalists were smart enough to make it to the arena early enough to avoid the crowds.

"Good afternoon Seto."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh so you do remember me. I'm flattered. I didn't think you'd even recognize me, with the glasses and the ponytail. But it looks like I'm not the only one that's changed."

"Answer the question."

"Obviously I'm here to play Duel Monsters. Judging by the fact that out of the hundreds of duelists that came here I'm one of the only eight to make it to the finals, I'd say I'm pretty good at it."

"Shouldn't you be back in Japan tending to some obese child who clogged his arteries by eating too many candy bars?"

"Now that was rude. But to answer your question no, even doctors need to take a vacation once in awhile. You should try it sometime; it might do wonders for you. You're not scarred of me, are you?"

"There is only one duelist in the world whose skill rivals even my own, and you're not him. In any case I'm not afraid of anything."

"Oh really… If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trembling. Then again that's not surprising, considering our past history."

Now Kaiba was starting to get angry.

"What you're referring to is ancient history. I'm here to reclaim my title as the world's number one ranked duelist, and for your own sake you better stay out of my way."

"No promises." said replied Dr. Kiryu smiling like she didn't have a care in the world.

"_Women…"_

Abaddon watched from the shadows as the stadium filled with spectators. The tournament was scheduled to begin in less than half an hour.

"_Big turnout… Wonderful… A show like mine deserves a grand audience. This will certainly be one Duel Monsters tournament they'll never forget."_

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Duel Monsters World Tournament here in the great city of New York!"

The spectators burst into applause.

"Of the hundreds of duelists that have participated in this tournament, only eight have survived the elimination round and have earned the right to call themselves the best in the world, and here they are! Representing the United States of America, born here in the Big Apple, the masked metal marauder himself… CYBER-MAN!"

As Cyber-Man came charging out onto the field like a rock star, a large percentage of the crowd was shouting "U.S.A.!"

"From the United Kingdom… They call him the clown king of comedy, but trust me when I say his dueling skills are no laughing matter. Please welcome LAFFY THE CLOWN!"

Laffy came out riding on a unicycle and juggling chainsaws.

"This guy… can't be serious." said Tristan.

"At least he should be easy for the guys to beat."

"Representing Australia, the wonder from down under, LIZ FANCLAW!"

Liz came out flipping and doing cartwheels.

"And from Japan, one bold newcomer and some of the greatest legends in the game! DR. KIRYU, MAI VALENTINE, JOEY WHEELER, SETO KAIBA, and the King of Games himself… YUGI MOTO!"

"Hello New York!" shouted Joey as they were met with a roar of applause.

"Now, I'm sure we're all anxious to get this thing going, but first remove your hats for the singing of the national anthems."

Since there were duelists from four different countries, all their respective national anthems were being sung.

"Who wrote this song?" asked Joey.

"I don't know, maybe it was someone from Australia, duh." replied Mai.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the battle for the crown will begin in a moment, but first we need to find out who's dueling who. Each duelist will reach into the Box of Fate and pull out a colored ball to determine who their opponent will be. Red vs. Red, Yellow vs. Yellow, Green vs. Green, and Blue vs. Blue."

The official came up carrying the Box of Fate, which was just a gold plated box with images of the Egyptian God Cards carved into it.

"The reigning King of Games may go first."

Yugi walked up to the box, reached in, and pulled out a ball.

"Green, that's duel number three."

Next it was Kaiba's turn.

"Blue, that puts you in duel four."

"Alright, my turn!"

Joey reached in and pulled out a red ball.

"Red, that puts you in the first duel."

On Mai's turn she pulled out a yellow ball, putting her in duel number two.

"Match you for it?"

Liz, Cyber-Man, Dr. Kiryu, and Laffy all played a quick game of Rock-paper-scissors to see who would go next.

"Guess it's my lucky day."

When Dr. Kiryu pulled out her ball she smiled and held it for the whole world to see.

"Alright, the matches will proceed as follows! Joey Wheeler vs. Cyber-Man! Liz Fanclaw vs. Mai Valentine! Yugi Moto vs. Laffy the Clown! And finally Dr. Kiryu vs. Seto Kaiba!"

Joey and Cyber-Man took the field.

"So you're Joey Wheeler… I'm curious to see if you're as good as they say."

"I'm all that and more. By the way, why do you wear that mask?"

"Don't question greatness."

"For the convenience of you our paying customers, the small screen in front of your seats will provide you with information regarding the cards the duelists are using throughout the tournament if you're unfamiliar with them. Now let's get this party started!"

"Go Joey!"

"You'll be dueling with 8000 life points each, no time limit! Let the duel begin!"

"Duel!"

(Joey: 8000)

(Cyber-Man: 8000)

"I'll start things off… I activate the spell card Terraforming! This let's me take one field spell from my deck and add it to my hand, and the card I choose… Cyber Space!"

The holographic arena went from neutral to a background with glowing neon numbers, letters, and symbols flying all over the place.

"Whoa… trippy." said Tristan.

"As long as this card remains on the field, all monsters with Cyber Warrior in their names are granted an additional 500 attack and defense points. Next I'll summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Big mistake." said Joey "I activate the spell card Nobleman of Crossout! This destroys one face down monster and removes it from play! Next I summon Marauding Captain!"

(ATK: 1200 DEF: 400)

"And now his special effect let's me summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. And I choose Goblin Attack Force!"

(ATK: 2300 DEF: 0)

"Now I'll have both of them attack you directly!"

(Cyber-Man: 4500)

"Wheeler draws first blood! And that's a lot of blood folks!"

"No wonder they doubled the life point total." said Tea "If it had been only 4000 Cyber-Man would have just lost 7/8 of his life points."

"That was good first move, but if you think I'm down and out already you're dead wrong. I'll place two cards face down and summon Cyber Warrior Alpha Samurai in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600)

"And thanks to Cyber Space, he's 500 points stronger."

(ATK: 2300 DEF: 2100)

"Alpha Samurai, attack his Marauding Captain!"

The Alpha Samurai charged over and slashed Joey's captain.

(Joey: 6900)

"You'll have to do better than that. I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600)

"But he won't be sticking around for long, because I activate the spell card Release Restraint! By sacrificing my Iron Knight, I can special summon Gearfried the Swordmaster from my deck!"

(ATK: 2600 DEF: 2200)

"Next I activate Nobleman of Extermination! This let's me destroy one face down spell or trap card!"

"I don't think so; I activate the trap card Backup Program! This trap card can only be activated if I have Cyber Space in play, in which case I'm allowed to disperse three backup counters to any cards I have out, even if that card hasn't been activated yet. And if that card would be destroyed, the counter is destroyed instead. And I think I'll place one on each of my three cards."

Cyber-Man's face down card was spared.

"Alright, in that case I guess I'll just attack your Samurai with Gearfried!"

"I activate the trap card Glitch! Like Backup Program, this card can only be activated when Cyber Space is in play, only this is a continuous trap. Whenever one of my monsters is targeted in battle, I toss a coin. If it's tails you proceed with your attack normally, but if it's heads your attack is negated."

The referee was tossing the coin to make sure that it was fair.

"Heads!"

Gearfried charged over at the Cyber Samurai, but when he got there he froze up and was sent back to Joey's side of the field like he was in rewind.

"Fine, I guess I'll end my turn."

Cyber-Man drew his card.

"Excellent… I activate the spell card Spam Attack!"

"Let me guess, it's another spell card that can only be activated if you have Cyber Space in play."

"Yes it is. And it's a very powerful one. It forces you to draw cards from your deck until you're holding six cards."

Joey was actually grateful for a chance to draw more cards, seeing as he was currently only holding one card.

"And you're being so helpful because…"

"Because now for every card that you just drew, you take 1000 points of damage."

"What?!"

(Joey: 1900)

"Oh my gosh! Just like that Cyber-Man has turned the tables on Wheeler!"

"So you got off one good shot, but I've been in spots a million times worse than this!"

"You honestly don't think I got to be one of the best duelists in the country just by using a spell card that would've been banned without the additional life points. No, that's just the tip of this iceberg. First I'll activate the spell card Equality! This lets me draw cards from my deck until I'm holding as many cards as you."

"Well that's a dirty trick." said Mai.

"Next I summon Cyber Warrior Epsilon Gunner!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 1800)

"And thanks to Cyber Space it gains a 500 point boost!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2300)

"Now I'll activate his special effect. By discarding one card, I can destroy one card you control. And I choose your swordmaster!"

Epsilon's arm transformed into a minigun and blew Gearfried away.

"Fortunately for you when I activate this effect, I need to skip my battle phase."

If Joey was worried about the score then he wasn't showing it.

(Cyber-Man: 4500)

(Joey: 1900)

"First I draw, next I banish Gearfried the Swordmaster and Marauding Captain from my graveyard so I can special summon two Dragon Warriors!"

(2x ATK: 1800 DEF: 1300)

"When a Dragon Warrior is summoned, I can either inflict 500 points of damage to my opponent, or I can increase my own by 500."

(Joey: 2900)

"And that's not even the best part. I still haven't normal summoned yet. I sacrifice my two Dragon Warriors and Goblin Attack Force to summon Gilford the Lightning!"

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 1400)

"And since I sacrificed three monsters to summon him, all the monsters you have out are destroyed!"

Epsilon was obliterated, but when the smoke cleared Alpha was still standing.

"What?!"

"Did you forget? Alpha still had a backup counter on him."

"Err… Well let's see him survive this! Gilford, attack!"

"I activate the effect of Glitch!"

The referee tossed the coin.

"Tails!"

Gilford's attack proceeded normally, and he sliced the Alpha Samurai in half.

(Cyber-Man: 4000)

"I'll place one card face down and summon a monster in defense mode."

"That's it? The people came to see a show."

"They'll get a show, just you wait."

"Sorry bro, but I don't think we can wait that long."

Joey couldn't risk waiting too long to make a move on Cyber-Man's life points, fortunately there was a card in his hand that clear the field for him.

"First I'll summon my Axe Raider!"

(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1150)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Giant Trunade!"

"I don't think so! Go Magic Jammer!"

"It had to be that one. Whatever… Gilford, attack his face down monster!"

Cyber-Man's monster was revealed to be a Cyber Warrior wearing heavy armor.

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 2200)

"Cyber Space, do your thing."

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 2700)

When Gilford struck the monster's armor nothing happened.

"What?! But Gilford has more attack than that thing has defense!"

"True, but Cyber Warrior Delta Defender can't be destroyed in battle. Now it's my turn."

Cyber-Man drew his card.

"I'll summon Cyber Warrior Gamma Bomber in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000)

"Now for his bonus."

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500)

"Next I'll activate his special effect. By discarding one card, in this case my Cyber Warrior Beta Ninja, my Bomber can attack you directly!"

(Joey: 1400)

"Wheeler's in trouble folks! One more attack like that and it's all over!"

Joey stood his ground.

"I activate Foolish Burial, which lets me send one monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"Uh… why did he just deliberately send a monster from his deck to the graveyard?" asked Tristan.

"I'm sure he has a good reason." said Serenity.

"Now Gilford, attack his Bomber!"

(Cyber-Man: 2700)

"Well you know what they say. You've got to spend life points to take life points. I activate my Pot of Greed so I can draw two cards from my deck… Next I'll summon Cyber Warrior Zeta Telepath!"

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000)

"Next I activate the spell card Overload Fusion! This let's me banish monsters from my field or graveyard in order to summon a dark machine fusion monster. I banish Cyber Warriors Alpha Samurai, Beta Ninja, Gamma Bomber, Delta Defender, Epsilon Gunner, and Zeta Telepath to summon Cyber Warrior Omega Destroyer!"

The Omega Destroyer stood over twenty feet tall, it's armor was at least five inches thick, and it had armaments all over it's body.

(ATK: ? DEF: ?)

"Omega's attack and defense points are determined by the number of Cyber Warriors I used to summon him multiplied by 1000, and in case you lost count that's six."

(ATK: 6000 DEF: 6000)

"If you think he's scary now, wait till you hear his other effect. He gains the effects of every monster I used to summon him. Alpha Samurai grants Omega the ability to negate the effects of any monster he attacks, Beta Ninja prevents you from activating trap cards when Omega attacks, Gamma Bomber lets him attack directly for the price of one card from my hand, Delta Defender prevents him from being destroyed in battle, Epsilon Gunner lets him destroy cards on the field by discarding from my hand, and Zeta Telepath enables me to negate the activation of one spell card per turn."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" exclaimed Tristan "All that and 6000 points?!"

"Omega, destroy Gilford and end this!"

Joey just smiled.

"Don't count your chickens yet metal head."

"ATTACK!"

"Joey! No!"

When the smoked cleared, everyone's jaws dropped.

(Joey: 1400)

"What?! Gilford is still in play in your life points aren't touched?! How is that even possible?! There aren't any trap cards out, and even if there were you couldn't use thim!"

"True, but I did send Necro Gardna to the graveyard with Foolish Burial, and by banishing him I was allowed to negate one attack."

"Err… Well let's see you try something like that again."

"Actually, I think I'll do something even better."

Joey drew his card.

"I activate my Pot of Greed, enabling me to draw two cards."

Joey knew it was now or never.

"I sacrifice Gilford and Axe Raider to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

(ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000)

"Wheeler has just sacrificed his Gilford for a monster that has even fewer attack points! What's he planning?!"

"I activate the spell card Inferno Fire Blast! When Red Eyes is on the field, I can use this card to inflict damage to your life points equal to his original attack points."

"I don't think so! Thanks to Zeta Telepath, Omega can negate one spell card per turn!"

"That's what I was counting on… I activate the spell card Polymerization! I fuse the Red Eyes on my field with the Meteor Dragon in my hand to summon… wait for it… Meteor Black Dragon!"

(ATK: 3500 DEF: 2000)

"Next I activate the spell card Riryoku! This let's me take half your overgrown toaster's attack points and give them to my dragon."

(ATK: 3000)

(ATK: 6500)

"Meteor Black Dragon… boom."

"Not so fast, I activate the effect of Glitch!"

"_Oh no! The effect of Riryoku only lasts for the duration of Joey's turn. If he loses this coin toss it's over!"_

The referee tossed the coin in the air.

"Tails!"

"What can I say, Lady Luck and I are old friends. Meteor, do your thing!"

The Meteor Black Dragon soared up into the air, went into a dive bomb, and struck the Omega Destroyer dead-on.

"Sure thanks to his effect he'll survive the fight, but your life points are another story."

(Cyber-Man: 0)

"Winner! Joey Wheeler!"

"_Joey's certainly come a long way. I don't think he lost his cool even once… Makes me all the more eager to beat him." _thought Mai.

**(To be continued)**

**The finals continue in Chapter 9: Mai vs. Liz**


	9. Mai vs Liz

"Superb duel… young Joseph might just prove himself to be a worthy opponent after all."

Abaddon was still sitting in the darkness watching everything unfold. The first duel had been enough to wet his appetite, but he told himself to be patient. Over the years he learned that waiting was half the battle. Anyone could just stab their unsuspecting tormentor and spend fifteen to a lifetime in jail, but the smart person would take the time to find out about their prey's medication and slip them an overdose when no one was looking, and make the whole thing look like an accident. But of course this had to be done only after everyone's suspicions regarding the death of his last tormentor had evaporated.

"Sorry America, but that was our last duelist." said the commentator "Joey Wheeler has emerged victorious over Cyber-Man!"

After the duel there was a ten minute recess, meant to give the people in the audience a chance to either use the restroom or make it to the concession stand.

"Even after all these years it still comes down to luck with you." said Mai.

"Don't forget skill, in case you didn't notice I took nearly half his life points on my first turn."

"Let's see how well that works out for you in our duel."

Joey had a comeback for that remark, but he chose not to use it.

"I thought you were awesome!" said Serenity.

"You never lost your cool. You should be proud." said Yugi.

"Will the next two duelists please enter the arena at this time!"

"That's my cue"

"Good luck Mai."

"Won't need it."

"So what's the deal with her opponent again?" asked Tristan.

"Her name is Liz Fanclaw." said Yugi "As this tournament would suggest, she's the best duelist in Australia. She uses reptile monsters, which previously were one of the most overlooked and under supported types of cards in the entire game."

"Now that you mention it… I don't think we saw too many of those before." said Tea.

"She'll be fine, Mai's one of the best duelists I know."

"I would certainly hope you'd have faith in your own girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend sis!"

"Ladies and gentlemen our next duel is about to get underway! Liz Fanclaw vs. Mai Valentine!"

Liz came cart wheeling into the ring in khaki shorts and a green tank top.

"Showoff." said Mai.

When Liz spoke her English was perfect, but her accent was apparent.

"Ah, Miss Valentine! It's nice to know my quarter-final duel will be such a prestigious one."

"It'll be prestigious alright… a prestigious loss."

"Bring it…"

"Duel!"

(Mai: 8000)

(Liz: 8000)

"If you don't mind, I'll kick this duel off. I activate the spell card Snake Rain! By discarding one Gale Lizard from my hand, I can send four reptile monsters from my deck to the graveyard. Next I'll summon Balloon Lizard in attack mode!"

(ATK: 900 DEF:1900)

"Now I'll equip him with Heart of Clear Water!"

Being unfamiliar with the card, Serenity had to consult the information screen in front of her seat.

**Heart of Clear Water is an equip spell card that can only be equipped to monsters with 1300 attack points or less. Any monster equipped with this card cannot be destroyed by battle or by card effects that target it.**

"And I'll end my turn by placing two cards face down."

"My turn then… I summon Harpie Queen in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Elegant Egotist, and special summon Harpie Lady 1 from my deck!"

(ATK: 1300 DEF: 1400)

"And thanks to her special effect, both my monsters gain 300 extra attack points!"

(ATK: 2200)

(ATK: 1600)

"Now I'll equip both monsters with Cyber Shield!"

(ATK: 2700)

(ATK: 2100)

"Your Heart of Clear Water keeps your monster from being destroyed in battle, but it doesn't protect your life points."

Mai attacked the Balloon Lizard with both her monsters.

(Liz: 5000)

"And I think I'll leave it at that."

"Ladies and gentlemen this is incredible! And here I was wondering why they'd doubled the max amount of life points. The players just can't seem to keep them today!"

"Wait till you see what my cards can do." said Liz "During my standby phase, I get to put a counter on Balloon Lizard, but more on that later."

The Balloon Lizard on the field inflated itself.

"Next I'll activate Emergency Card Stash, allowing me to draw six cards from my deck! Perfect… I summon Granadora in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 700)

"When Granadora is summoned, I gain 1000 life points!"

(Liz: 6000)

"Now I'll activate the spell card Ancient Rules! This let's me special summon a normal level five or higher normal monster from my hand. And I choose… Gogiga Gagagigo!"

"Try saying that when you're drunk."

"I frequently do."

(ATK: 2950 DEF: 2800)

"That is one big lizard." said Tea.

"Gogiga Gagagigo, attack Harpie Lady 1!"

Gogiga Gagagigo grabbed the Harpie Lady and crushed her.

(Mai: 7150)

"Now that she's no longer in play, your Harpie Queen loses 300 attack points."

(ATK: 2400)

"And I'll end my turn by placing this card face down."

_"She still hasn't used her other two face down cards. What's she planning?"_

Mai still had the advantage in life points, but if she didn't do something quick that was going to change.

"I summon Harpie Channeler!"

(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1300)

"Now next I'll activate her special effect. By discarding Harpie Lady 2 from my hand, I can special summon a Harpie card from my deck in defense mode. And I choose Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500)

"Harpie's Pet Dragon gains an additional 300 attack and defense for each Harpie Lady on the field."

(ATK: 2600 DEF: 3100)

"I don't think so." said Liz "I activate the trap card Offerings to the Snake Deity! This card lets me destroy one of my reptiles along with two of your monsters. I choose Granadora, Harpie Channeler, and Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

Just like that all three monsters were destroyed.

"Big mistake! When Granadora is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you take 2000 points of damage."

"Normally you would be right, except that I have another trap card. I activate the trap card Barrel Behind the Door! When I take damage from a card effect, this let's me transfer the damage to you instead."

(Mai: 5150)

"Err… I guess I'll just switch my Harpie Queen to defense mode, place this card face down, and end my turn."

"Once again one of the duelists comes out of nowhere to take the lead!" said the commentator.

"Now the effect of my Balloon Lizard activates, allowing me to put another counter on it."

The Balloon Lizard expanded even more.

"Now I summon Lion Alligator!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 200)

"And he has a very potent special effect. From now on, whenever one of my reptile monsters attack a monster in defense mode, the difference between my monster's attack points and your monster's defense points is dealt to you as damage, as long as I have at least one other reptile on the field."

"Too bad you won't get to use that effect, I activate the trap Icarus Attack! By sacrificing my Harpie Queen I can destroy two cards on the field. I choose Lion Alligator and Gogiga Gagagigo!"

The only monster that Liz had left was her Balloon Lizard, but she didn't dare switch him to attack mode, she was only leading by less than 1000 life points.

"Fine, I end my turn."

"I activate the spell card Rare Feather Collector! By banishing one winged beast in my graveyard, I can draw cards from my deck equal to that monster's level. So by banishing Harpie Queen, I can draw four cards from my deck… I activate the field spell Harpie's Hunting Ground and summon another Harpie Queen!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

"Now the effects of Hunting Ground activate, giving my queen an additional 200 attack and defense points."

(ATK: 2100 DEF: 1400)

"And whenever a Harpie Lady is summoned, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I'll use it to destroy your Heart of Clear Water, which leaves your lizard wide open for an attack!"

The Harpie Queen shredded Balloon Lizard with her talons.

"When Balloon Lizard is destroyed, you take damage equal to the number of counters on him times 400!"

(Mai: 4350)

"Enjoy it while you can. I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

Mai wasn't used to fighting reptile monsters, but she was pretty sure Gogiga Gagagigo had the highest base attack that they had to offer. If that was it the rest of the duel might be downhill, but she had been wrong before.

"I activate the spell card Graceful Charity, letting me draw three cards and discard two more reptiles!"

As soon as Liz drew her last card her face lit up.

"Alright! Ready or not here it comes! I banish all the reptiles in my graveyard to special summon Evil Dragon Ananta!"

(ATK: ? DEF: ?)

"Ananta's attack and defense are equal to the number of reptiles I banished multiplies by 600. In case you haven't been counting… that's eleven."

(ATK: 6600 DEF: 6600)

"Now Ananta, attack Harpie Queen and end this duel!"

"I don't think so, I activate the trap card Negate Attack, canceling your monster's attack and ending the battle phase."

"But that's not the end of my turn. Now Ananta's effect activates, which lets me destroy one card on the field. Ananta, destroy Harpie Queen!"

"Okay… Liz is ahead by over a thousand life points, and has a monster with over 6000 attack points on the field. Any idea how she can come back from that?" asked Tristan.

"She'll find a way."

"I activate Pot of Greed, enabling me to draw two cards from my deck… Next I'll activate the trap card Hysteric Party! By discarding one card from my hand, I can special summon as many Harpie Ladies as I can from my graveyard. I special summon Harpie Queen, Harpies Ladies 1-3, and Harpie Channeler!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

(3x ATK: 1300 DEF: 1400)

(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1300)

"And now for the grand finale. I activate the spell card Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation! When there are three or more Harpie Ladies on my side of the field, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field for each Harpie I control."

Mai's Harpies all flew into the air, formed a fiery phoenix, and destroyed Ananta.

"Now you take damage equal to your monster's attack points!"

(Liz: 0)

"Winner! Mai Valentine!"

"Just like that it's all over folks! Mai Valentine has emerged victorious over Liz Fanclaw, and will go on to face Joey Wheeler in the semi-finals!"

**(To be continued)**

**Since he first started playing duel monsters… Yugi has never faced a duelist so… annoying.**

**Next time in chapter 10: Yugi vs. Laffy the Clown**


	10. Yugi vs Laffy the Clown

"Ladies and gentlemen, this tournament isn't even half over yet, and we've already seen more action than I've expected! There will now be another ten minute intermission, but hurry back, you won't want to miss a thing."

"That was awesome!"

"Did you guys expect anything less?"

"From you? Not in a million years." replied Joey.

Just then Mai noticed something odd as Kaiba left the duelist box to do whatever he needed to do.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that those two have some kind of history."

"What? Kaiba and Kiryu?"

"What makes you say that?" asked Yugi.

"Well for one thing, he's done his best to avoid making eye contact with her since we got here, and she's done nothing but stare at him with that weird grin on her face."

"Kaiba isn't the kind of person who has girlfriends."

"Maybe that's because she's his ex."

"More likely some fan girl that sends him crazy love letters on a regular basis."

Yugi couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something about Dr. Kiryu that seemed very familiar.

"You're sure it's her Seto?"

"I'm afraid so Mokuba… But this doesn't change anything."

"She's the only person who's ever beaten you at chess."

"That's ancient history! I was a boy. I would have found a way to beat her, but she was adopted. I'm an entirely different person now, and this is an entirely different game, a game that she has very little experience with. She doesn't stand a chance."

"She made it to the quarter finals in a tournament full of duelists from all around the world, and don't forget what happened the last time a newcomer walked into your life."

Little did Kaiba know, someone was listening in on their conversation.

"Interesting…"

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the next duel of the quarter finals! This next match pits Laffy the Clown against the reigning King of Games… Yugi Moto!"

"Good luck Yugi… not that you'll need it."

"Uh… thanks Tea."

Something had changed about Tea during the time they had been apart. After Yugi's duel with Atem there was a brief period where they didn't even talk. Then at graduation there was the usual sadness that came with everyone going their separate ways, and yet just the other night Tea had asked Yugi if he liked her new hair. They were going to have to talk about things soon enough, but for now he had to focus on the duel ahead of him.

"Will Laffy the Clown please enter the ring at this time?"

This time Laffy came into the ring hoping on one leg, balancing three eggs on his nose, and spinning plates on sticks.

"Why do we get all the weirdoes at these tournaments?" asked Tea.

"I've asked myself that question too many times." said Mai.

"Look on the bright side, Yugi's got this one in the bag."

"Ah, Yugi Moto, the famous King of Games." said Laffy in an overly exaggerated accent "I've got something special just for you."

Laffy inexplicably pulled a present out of his suit.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid."

"Party pooper."

"At least I have an education."

"I'll have you know I'm really an established solicitor, I just do this because I get off on it."

"Can we duel already."

"Indeed we shall."

"Let's duel!"

(Yugi: 8000)

(Laffy: 8000)

"I'll start things off… A Row of Ducks! Always good for some yucks!"

"What?"

"A Row of Ducks! By banishing five cards from the top of my deck, I can special summon five duck tokens to the field in defense mode."

The five duck tokens were plastic dummies with targets painted on them, the kind of thing you'd expect to find in a carnival game.

(5x ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

"Fortunately for you I can't use this tokens as tributes, so it's your turn."

"_Some opening move. He just banished a significant amount of his deck to stall five of my attacks… There has to be more to it than that."_

Yugi drew his card.

"I summon The Crusader of Endymion!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Double Summon, and use it to summon Defender, The Magical Knight!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 2000)

"And I'll have both of them attack your duck tokens!"

As soon as the duck tokens were attacked, they exploded.

"Oh one thing I forgot to mention… Whenever one of my duck tokens is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!"

(Yugi: 7000)

"And Laffy draws first blood!"

"And it doesn't stop there. I summon Freddy the Creepy Clown in attack mode!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 1600)

"Next I'll activate the field spell known as the Fun House!"

The Fun House transformed the arena into a bizarrely shaped room full of crazy mirrors, doors on the floor and ceiling as well as the walls, and then some.

"In this magical place left is right and up is down. Right now our monsters have left back at the right of the front, or is it the back of the front or the right of the left, I can never keep those two straight."

"Do you have a point?"

"As a matter of fact I do. In this place all my monster gain 300 extra attack points."

(ATK: 2300)

"Freddy, attack defender!"

Suddenly the hologram of Freddy pulled out a huge weapon that looked like a cross between a sword and a boomerang and charged.

"Not so fast, I activate Defender's effect! When he was summoned I got to place a spell counter on him, and by removing that spell counter I can prevent one spellcaster from being destroyed, so my Magician is safe!"

"But your life points aren't."

(Yugi: 6300)

"It's my turn, and I'll Gemini summon my Crusader of Endymion, turning him into an effect monster! Now I'll activate his special effect, which let's me place another spell counter on my Defender, and since I used this effect Endymion gains an additional 600 attack points for the duration of my turn!"

(ATK: 2500)

"Endymion, attack and destroy Freddy!"

Freddy was obliterated.

(Laffy: 7800)

"When Freddy is destroyed, I can automatically destroy one monster on the field, so say goodbye to you crusader!"

"I don't think so, remember my Defender's effect?"

Freddy's stray weapon flew at Endymion, but Defender rushed over and deflected it with his shield.

"Now I'll have Defender destroy another one of your duck tokens."

"Then you take another 500 points of damage."

(Yugi: 5800)

"Forcing his opponents to give up life points so they can get to his, I understand why some people call him the most annoying duelist they've ever met." said Mai.

"I'll end my turn by placing this card face down."

"Hmm… decisions… decisions… I think I'll just place this card face down."

"I summon the Rapid-Fire Magician!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200)

"Next I'll activate my Pot of Greed, not only do I get to draw two cards, but now my Magician's effect activates, inflicting 400 points of damage to you."

(Laffy: 7400)

Yugi drew his cards.

"I activate Magical Stone Excavation, by discarding two cards I can take one spell in my graveyard and return it to my hand. And now my Magician's effect activates again."

(Laffy: 7000)

"Now I'll activate the spell I just brought back, Double Summon! And I'll use it to summon the Skilled Dark Magician!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1700)

"And now my Rapid-Fire Magician will attack again!"

(Laffy: 6600)

"Yugi Moto has four spellcasters in play while Laffy has only two duck tokens and one face down monster, I smell a comeback!" said the announcer.

"First I'll destroy your two remaining duck tokens with Rapid-Fire Magician and Defender!"

BOOM!

"Then you take 1000 more points of damage!"

(Yugi: 4800)

"Next I'll activate Endymion's special effect, and place another counter on defender, giving Endymion a 600 point boost!"

(ATK: 2500)

"Endymion, attack and destroy his face down monster!"

"I don't think so! Reveal, Bongo the Fat Clown!"

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 2500)

Bongo looked like he weighed over three hundred pounds, unfortunately his defense points were equal to Endymion's boosted attack power.

"Okay… I officially hate clowns now." said Tristan.

"Now it's my turn. First I'll destroy your face down with Mystical Space Typhoon! Next I summon Chuckles the Laughing Clown in attack mode!"

(ATK: 700 DEF: 1000)

"And he gains an extra 300 thanks to the effect of my Funhouse field spell."

(ATK: 1000)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Secret Pass to the Treasures, now for the duration of my turn Chuckles can attack you directly, and get this… he gets to attack once for every monster on my side of the field with Clown in its name."

Chuckles took out two huge pies and threw them at Yugi's face.

(Yugi: 2800)

"Oh come on, was that really necessary?" asked Tea.

"And don't get any ideas of attacking Chuckles, because as long as Bongo is on the field you can't attack any other monster I have out that has Clown in it's name. And I think I'll end my turn by placing this card face down."

"Laffy the clown has a huge lead on Yugi! Could we be seeing the birth of a new King of Games?!" cried the announcer.

"If he loses this duel, shoot me."

On the bright side, Kaiba was seeing an obvious difference in Yugi's dueling skills.

"He's gotten soft since our last duel, and the fact that he no longer has the god cards cinches it. Even if he wins this duel there's no way he'll be able to beat me."

"He no longer has the god cards?"

"What the?! How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough. And in order to duel him, you'll need to beat me first." replied Kiryu.

"That won't be an issue…"

"Well, I guess we'll just see what we'll see."

"I activate Emergency Card Stash! Now I can draw six cards from my deck, and thanks to Rapid-Fire Magician, you lose another 400 life points!"

(Laffy: 6200)

Yugi drew his cards.

"I summon Ameba!"

(ATK: 300 DEF: 350)

"Next I'll activate the Mystic Box! This let's me destroy one of your monsters, in exchange for giving you control of one of mine. I'll destroy Bongo and give you control of Ameba!"

Bongo was skewered inside the Mystic Box and Ameba appeared on Laffy's side of the field.

"When Ameba goes to your side of the field, you take 2000 points of damage!"

(Laffy: 4200)

"And Rapid-Fire Magician takes another 400 points!"

(Laffy: 3800)

"But that's not all. Between the spells both you and I have activated, my Skilled Dark Magician now has three spell counters, so I can sacrifice him to special summon the Dark Magician!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100)

"Now I'll attack Ameba with my Defender, and since he's on your side of the field you lose the life points!"

(Laffy: 2500)

"Rapid-Fire Magician, attack his Laughing Clown!"

"Now so fast! I activate the second effect of my Fun House! By banishing one monster from my graveyard, I can negate one battle per turn!"

"No matter, I still have two more monsters. Endymion, attack his clown!"

(Laffy: 1600)

"Dark Magician, finish him off!"

"I don't think so! I activate the trap card Soul Sacrifice! Whenever my opponent attacks me directly, I can banish one monster from my deck who's attack points are equal to or higher than the attacking monsters and cancel the attack."

"Nuts, so close… I guess I'll end my turn with a face down."

"I don't believe it!" cried the announcer "Just like that Yugi Moto comes out of nowhere to take the lead!"

"That's my buddy!" said Joey.

"Long live the King of Games!"

"Let's see you survive this one…" said Laffy drawing his card "I play Graceful Charity! Next I activate the spell card Miraculous Return! By giving up 1000 life points, I can special summon one monster that I've banished. And I choose Gigantus The King Clown!"

(Laffy: 600)

(ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000)

Gigantus was at least two stories high. He had terrifying crimson eyes and razor teeth.

"It's hideous!" exclaimed Serenity.

"Now every child watching this duel is going to be afraid of clowns." said Tea.

"And I still haven't normal summoned yet. I summon Icky the Sick Clown!"

(ATK: 500 DEF: 500)

"Next I activate the spell card Tribute to the Doomed! Which I'll use to destroy Icky!"

"Uh… why would he summon that monster just to destroy it?"

Serenity pulled the card's information on the screen.

**When Icky the Sick Clown is sent to the graveyard, the attack points of every monster the opponent currently has in play are permanently halved.**

(ATK: 800)

(ATK: 800)

(ATK: 950)

(ATK: 1250)

"Now I activate Gigantus' special effect! By banishing monsters from my graveyard, I can increase his attack points by 500 each, and I think I'll banish two monsters!"

(ATK: 4300)

"Now Gigantus, destroy the Dark Magician and end this duel!"

"You forgot my face down card, go Mirror Force!"

Gigantus' attack was deflected, but when the smoke cleared he was still standing.

"What?!"

"Oh, guess I forgot to mention that Gigantus can't be destroyed by traps. Since my turn is over he loses his attack boost, but you don't have any monsters that can take him on anyway."

(ATK: 3300)

Gigantus was actually sticking his tongue out at Yugi and was laughing like a madman.

"That is the single most annoying thing I've seen since Pegasus' toon monsters." said Joey.

"Even if Yugi could summon a monster with enough attack points to bring that thing down, the clown could just negate the battle with Fun House's effect, then give Gigantus another boost on his next turn." said Mai.

"He'll find a way… he always does." said Tea.

Yugi drew his card and smiled.

"I activate the spell card Magical Blast! This causes you to take 200 points of damage for every spellcaster that I have out, and I have four!"

(Laffy: 0)

"Winner! Yugi Moto!" cried the ref.

"Weirdest duel ever." said Yugi under his breath.

"Not the most climatic of endings, but a win is a win!" said the announcer "Once again Yugi Moto has emerged victorious, and the next duel will determine his opponent in the semi-finals!"

**(To be continued)**

**Will Kaiba win or lose? You decide!**

**Next time in Chapter 11: Kaiba vs. Kiryu**


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